Poses >> Garudasana

Garudasana – Eagle Pose
 
  • Balance and flexibility
  • Relieves shoulder tension and opens the upper back
  • Hips and thighs
  • Sciatica
 
1) Standing in tadasana, steady your dristi and your breath. Bending your knees slightly, lift your left foot and find all four corners of the standing foot, spreading the foot into the floor and rooting into the earth. Step the left foot out to the side and lift the leg and cross it over the right leg as high on the thigh as possible.
2) If your hips are tight or balance is a challenge, allow the left foot to dangle in the air, or place the toes on a block to steady your balance in the pose. Otherwise, pressing the thighs together, wrap the foot and ankle around behind the right calf.
3) Extend your arms straight ahead of you, allowing the back of the shoulders and scapula to spread wide across the back of the body. Cross your arms in front of you with the right arm above the left. Bend the elbows and snug the right elbow into the left elbow crease. Right angle at the elbow. Backs of the hands face each other.
4) Press the right hand to the right and the left hand to the left until the palms face one another. (If tight shoulders prevent this, press the backs of the hands together, hold the right wrist with the left hand or, place a strap between the hands.) Press the palms together, and on an exhale, gently lift your elbows and extend the fingers toward the ceiling.
5) To deepen the pose, press down in the standing heel. Squeeze the thighs firmly together for deep rotation of the inner thigh to allow the sacrum and sit bones to soften and spread. Firming the buttock flesh onto the sit bones, lift the hipbones and extend all four corners of the torso. As you pull the right hip crease back to square the hips, bend your legs to deepen into the hips.
6) Extend the spine by lifting the sternum and draw the navel toward the back and upward. Draw the shoulders onto the back and press them forward toward the back of the ribs as you lift the arms up and forward. Extend the neck evenly.
7) Draw the breath into the shoulders and the hips and energetically extend from the pelvis as it draws toward the floor. Stay for a series of breaths, softening into the pose.
8) Release and unwind your legs and arms to stand in tadasana. Repeat on the other side.

Video and Text by Yogamates Featured Teacher: Daniel Stewart